Wildfire Today

News and opinion about wildland fire

Wildfire Today

Tag: Oklahoma

Anderson Creek Fire 90 percent contained

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 1 Comment on Anderson Creek Fire 90 percent contained

The fire has burned 397,420 acres in Kansas and Oklahoma. It is the largest fire in the recorded history in Kansas.

The teams managing the huge Anderson Creek wildfire that burned from Oklahoma into Kansas were calling it 90 percent contained Sunday night. The organization running the fire is described by the Kansas Forest Service as a Unified Command comprised of the Kansas Forest Service Type 3 Incident Management Team, Kansas Type 3 All Hazard Incident Management Team, and Barber County.

Kansas Oklahoma wildfire

The Blackhawk helicopters from the Kansas National Guard that were assisting by dropping water were released Sunday afternoon. The Temporary Flight Restriction was then terminated.

The Kansas Forest Service and the Kansas Incident Management Teams will both be transitioning their management responsibilities back to Barber County this week. Monday, crews will be in patrol status with four mutual aid fire departments and the Barber County resources. Warmer and dryer conditions will return to the fire area Monday and Tuesday.

The 38 Hutchinson Community College Fire Science students who were enrolled in Mitigation Project Training last week over spring break got more than they bargained for in hands-on training. They began the project with mechanical mitigation work at Sand Hills State Park, Dillon Nature Center, and the Prairie Dunes Country Club, but on March 23 the group was diverted to Medicine Lodge, Kansas along with their mentors and trainers to help fight the fire.

All photos were provided by the Kansas Forest Service.

Kansas Oklahoma wildfire

Kansas Oklahoma wildfire

Kansas Oklahoma wildfire

Continue reading “Anderson Creek Fire 90 percent contained”

Drone footage of the huge Anderson Creek fire in Kansas

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The Kiowa County Media Center, a non-profit organization, shot this very impressive footage of the Anderson Creek Fire that has burned close to 400,000 acres in Kansas and Oklahoma. They uploaded it to YouTube on March 25, 2016.

Anderson Creek fire in Oklahoma and Kansas

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , 2 Comments on Anderson Creek fire in Oklahoma and Kansas

(UPDATED at 11:30 a.m. March 25, 2016)

KS-OK fire from space
The Anderson Creek Fire in Oklahoma and Kansas as seen from space. Photo via Damon Lane
@KOCOdamonlane

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(UPDATED at 12:15 a.m. CDT, March 25, 2016)

This map was provided by Oklahoma Forestry Services, along with the information that the fire had burned an estimated 397,420 acres and was 0% contained Thursday morning.

Map Anderson Ck Fire 3-24-2016

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(UPDATED at 6:12 p.m. CDT March 24, 2016)

The video below is a recording of the briefing by public officials of Barber County Kansas the morning of March 24, 2016 about the very large fire insouthern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. It was originally broadcast on Periscope by Amy Bickel, but since recordings there are automatically deleted after 24 hours, we preserved it here. It was recorded off a computer monitor, so we apologize for the low quality.

In the briefing referenced above, the County Attorney said “397,420 acres have burned over the last couple of days”. He did not indicate if that was the size of the very large fire in our maps, or if the acreage includes multiple fires. He also said two homes were destroyed.

The map below shows heat detected by a satellite at 2:25 p.m. on March 24. The light vegetation in the area may sometimes ignite, burn up completely, and then cool before the next satellite overpass, which can be about 12 hours apart. In this case the mapped data may under-report the true extent of the fire.

map fire wildfire kansas oklahoma medicine lodge
Kansas-Oklahoma fire map at 2:25 p.m. CDT March 24, 2016.

Here is an excerpt from an article at WIBW, dated March 24 at 2:10 p.m.

Strong winds have thwarted efforts to contain a wildfire that has burned 620 square miles of rural land in Oklahoma and Kansas, and it’s now approaching populated areas.

Oklahoma Forestry Services spokesman Mark Goeller said Thursday that strong winds shifted the direction of the fire late Wednesday and overwhelmed existing containment lines.

Officials are now monitoring a part of the blaze 5 miles away from Alva, Oklahoma, where about 5,000 people live. No mandatory evacuations have been issued in Oklahoma, though Goeller says officials are forming contingency evacuation plans as crews work to slow the fire’s spread.

Goeller says wind conditions and humidity are expected to improve throughout the day, making progress on containment more likely…

Anderson Creek Fire 3-24-2016

Continue reading “Anderson Creek fire in Oklahoma and Kansas”

Horses escape from wildfire in Oklahoma

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
Horses escaping fire
Horses escaping from a fire in Oklahoma. Screen grab vrom the News9 video.

This was the description of the video (below) that News9.com posted on Monday:

Grass fires in Osage and Washington counties are still burning Monday morning. Residents will smell smoke and can see the haze in the air.

Osage SkyNews 6 HD pilot Will Kavanagh flew overhead as wild horses escaped a fire line about five miles north-northwest of Ochelata Monday morning. Strong south winds continue at 20 to near 30 mph.

The fire began burning Sunday and continues in the rural area near the border of the two counties. Video shows the horses crossing a stream with ranchers nearby to help.

Wildfire briefing, March 1, 2016

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Wildfire briefing, March 1, 2016

Wildfire closes I-15 in northwest Arizona

A fire between St. George and Mesquite late Monday caused Interstate 15 to be closed for several hours. A sheriff’s deputy suffered a broken leg when he attempted to assist a resident who was on the roof of a home using a water hose to keep the fire at bay. Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trish Carter said a person burning weeds on his property caused the fire and may face charges.

Pipeline companies ordered to pay $6.5 M in damages from Oklahoma wildfire

From the Insurance Journal:

Two pipelines companies have been ordered to pay more than $6.5 million in damages to more than 70 plaintiffs whose property was destroyed in a 2012 wildfire in Oklahoma.

Court documents say a Payne County jury ordered IPS Engineering L.L.C. and Global Pipeline Construction LLC to pay the damages to be divided among 72 plaintiffs nearly four years after the fire consumed farmland, homes, timber and other property. Tulsa World reports that IPS Engineering was ordered to pay an additional $1 million in punitive damages, and Global Pipeline Construction was ordered to pay $100,000.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer says the nearly 8-mile fire broke out near Glencoe on Aug. 4, 2012, when company employees continued welding despite a statewide burn ban issued the day prior.

Forest Service requests information about suspicious fire

Fire managers on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona suppressed a suspicious human-caused fire on Sunday, Feb. 28, just west of Buckskinner Park. The Clover fire, which was reported just after
1 p.m., was knocked down by fire personnel and will continue to be monitored. The fire is currently under investigation by Forest Service Law Enforcement. Anyone with information regarding the cause of the fire, or that observed anyone suspicious in the area near the time of the fire is encouraged to contact Kaibab National Forest Dispatch at 928-635-2601 or Fire Information at 928-635-5653.

Oklahoma firefighter run over by brush truck

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Oklahoma firefighter run over by brush truck

The Oklahoma State Firefighters Association announced that on February 26 a Ponca City firefighter suffered traumatic leg injuries after accidentally getting run over by a brush truck.

Lt. Lyle Crandall with the Ponca City Fire Department was seriously injured Friday afternoon [February 26] while responding to a reported grass fire. Lt. Crandall and one other firefighter were on a special detail when the call came in. They had to respond back to the fire station to pick up a brush pumper. During this transfer, Lt. Crandall was accidentally run over by the front tires of the fire engine. Lt. Crandall received immediate treatment from the other Ponca City firefighters and was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they were met by a medical helicopter. Lt. Crandall was flown immediately to OU Medical Center in OKC. He sustained traumatic injury to his left foot and leg as well as his right leg.

Please keep Lt. Crandall, his family, and the Ponca City Fire Department in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,

Dereck Cassady
Ponca City FD
OSFA 3rd VP

Raanon Adams, President